hungry

adjective hun·gry \ ˈhəŋ-grē \

Updated on: 19 Apr 2018

Definition of hungry

hungrier; hungriest

1 a : feeling an uneasy or painful sensation from lack of food : feeling hunger

b : characterized by or characteristic of hunger or appetite

a wolf with hungry eyes

2 a : eager, avid

hungry for affection

b : strongly motivated (as by ambition)

hungry investors

a power-hungry politician

3 : not rich or fertile : barren

a hungry soil

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hungrily

play \ˈhəŋ-grə-lē\ adverb

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hungriness

play \ˈhəŋ-grē-nəs\ noun

See hungry defined for English-language learners

See hungry defined for kids

Examples of hungry in a Sentence

There are millions of hungry people throughout the world.
That girl is always hungry.
The prisoners' families were hungry for more information.
They were hungry to learn more.

Recent Examples of hungry from the Web

Holiday dinners were enhanced by her special touch to the menu that guaranteed no one would be hungry later in the evening.

— courant.com, "Anita Fairwood," 11 Apr. 2018
At no additional cost to the user, Sharebite will either donate enough to help feed a hungry child via City Harvest or allocate 2 percent of your order to a cause of your choosing.

— Daily Intelligencer, "4 Start-ups Actively Making NYC a Better Place," 7 Apr. 2018
The previous government, led by reformist generals, was hungry for legitimacy and hoped to redeem itself by instigating rapid change.

— The Economist, "After two years of civilian rule, Myanmar’s politicians are gloomy," 5 Apr. 2018
That said, the new CPUs, especially the Core i9, promise to deliver even more performance for ever-hungry gaming applications.

— melissa riofrio, PCWorld, "The Alienware 15 and Alienware 17 pack 6-core Intel overclockable goodness," 3 Apr. 2018
The international market is hungry for big-budget mainstream films and high-end TV series, so is likely to welcome a new player like AGC, especially if they are well capitalized.

— scott roxborough, The Hollywood Reporter, "Stuart Ford Launches New Production and Sales Outift AGC Studios," 22 Feb. 2018
Every offseason, Ryan Thibodeaux — @NotMrTibbs on Twitter — does a great service for news-hungry baseball fans by tracking and tabulating public Hall of Fame ballots.

— ted berg, For The Win, "3 MLB greats are on the bubble for 2018 Hall of Fame honors," 23 Jan. 2018
Tuesday is also the first Dollar Hot Dog Night of the season, sweetening the deal for value-hungry fans.

— craig hlavaty, Houston Chronicle, "All the Astros freebies and giveaways you can get at Minute Maid park this week," 2 Apr. 2018
The demographic changes are evident even at the neighborhood's soul food landmark, Kountry Kitchen, where people come hungry to devour hefty plates of fried chicken wings, collard greens, mac and cheese, and corn bread.

— robert king, Indianapolis Star, "50 years later, site of Robert Kennedy’s MLK speech begins to show their dream," 1 Apr. 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'hungry.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Origin and Etymology of hungry

Middle English, from Old English hungrig; akin to Old English hungor

NEW! Time Traveler

First Known Use: before 12th century

See Words from the same year

hungry Synonyms

Phrases

champing at the bit, chomping at the bit;

HUNGRY Defined for English Language Learners

hungry

adjective

Definition of hungry for English Language Learners

: suffering because of a lack of food : greatly affected by hunger
: having an uncomfortable feeling in your stomach because you need food : feeling hunger
: feeling a strong desire or need for something or to do something